


The Truth in Small Matters

by 2x2



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 16:58:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5673616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2x2/pseuds/2x2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted to LiveJournal on August 30, 2008</p><p>Co-author: Terimaru</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Because one writer in this pair loves pre-series Mal/Inara more than raspberry chocolate, and the other writer is tired of saying, “No pre-series!!” - we have a 2000 word drabble!! As they say, persistence pays off. :o) </i></p><hr/>
    </blockquote>





	The Truth in Small Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to LiveJournal on August 30, 2008
> 
> Co-author: Terimaru
> 
>  
> 
> _Because one writer in this pair loves pre-series Mal/Inara more than raspberry chocolate, and the other writer is tired of saying, “No pre-series!!” - we have a 2000 word drabble!! As they say, persistence pays off. :o)_
> 
> * * *

Inara cleared her throat softly, edging towards the rocky outcrop where Mal was perched, staring out over the distant hills as the sun set.

"Mind if I sit?" she asked hesitantly.

"Do what you want. Goin' to anyhow," he spat out flatly, refusing to look away from the horizon.

She held back a frustrated sigh; she had never in her life met anyone more stubborn than he was. If she took a tiny, perverse bit of pleasure in the way he angled his head away from her in annoyance as she sat, she figured she was entitled.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" she asked plainly, quite certain it wouldn't make one iota of a difference and not bothering to hide it from her tone. The man could drive her mad at times...

"Not when you ain't. And you know damn well you ain't," he snapped, turning to glare at her, eyes blazing before he caught himself and looked away, his spine stiff with righteous indignation.

The sigh won free and Inara shook her head. "You're right, I'm not," she agreed, her own annoyance beginning to colour her voice. "Because there's no reason for me to be, Mal! You're blowing this whole thing out of proportion!"

"Me?" he shouted, his head swiveling toward hers. "I'm blowing it out of proportion? Well, hell, then, let **me** apologize," he snarled snidely. "Cause I wouldn't want you to have to be accountable for any gorram thing you did! I am so sorry!" he ground out, coming to his feet and towering over her. "Now," he asked, "that soothe your tender Alliance-lovin' sensibilities?"

Inara stood, her own anger visibly radiating off her as she clenched her jaw tightly, glaring up at him. "Maybe if you started taking responsibility for your **own** actions instead of blaming the Alliance for every turn of bad luck you've ever had, we wouldn't have been in this situation!" she snapped back, barely containing her rage.

He faltered for only a second. "Bad luck?" he asked incredulously, "If you ain't the most... My bad luck came the day I let you walk on my boat. The day I conjured I could **trust** you not to stab me in the back! What'd they offer you? Money? A shiny new ship of your very own?" he taunted, his hands clenching into fists.

" _Ni jué jiàng de hun dan!_ " she cursed him. "Did you **want** to go to prison, Mal? You and everyone else on the ship?!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "I had no choice! Do you think it was easy for me to arrange it so that you only lost the cargo and not _Serenity_ on top of it?! Damnit, Mal, I put my entire career on the line for you!"

He bared his teeth in a feral semblance of a smile. "There it is. Was waitin' for that. Alliance mentality. Fuck me over then expect me to thank you for it!" he growled. Glaring into her upturned face, he put his hands on his hips to keep from shaking her.

"Did it ever, even one time, Inara, occur to you to trust me to deal with this? Why didn't you come to me? Tell me?! Know I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer but I've got by this long. Now we got nothin' but the clothes on our backs and whatfuel those _wang ba dans_ forgot to siphon off us." He turned away, letting new fury wash over him to cover the hurt. "Leaves us with no other option but salvage." Mal kicked the rock in front of him in a white rage, thinking about the dangers of it. "Gorramit!"

"He had you landlocked, Mal! Warrants for almost everyone on board! If I hadn't acted when I did you'd all be in custody right now. Or, knowing you, shot to death for resisting arrest!" She let out a breath, forcing herself to calm and be rational. "There was nothing else I could do," she continued, softer now. "It was pure chance that I overheard his wave, and I had a matter of minutes before the authorities were going to board you... All he wanted was the cargo, Mal. It was all I had to offer in exchange for you-- for Serenity's freedom." She sighed, crossing her arms defensively. "So I told him the coordinates you gave me. However, next time I just might be more inclined to let you take your chances!"

Mal opened his mouth to yell back, then stopped, closing it with a snap, stunned at her news. Zoe had tried to tell him as much but he hadn't listened, convinced he could talk his way out of the confinement. Inara's words confirmed his first mate's fears. Thoughts of his own death never fazed him, but Inara was right. He would have resisted and Zoe or Jayne might have died backing him up. They'd definitely been outnumbered and outgunned. Still, it stung, hurt even, that she hadn't waved ahead to give him some warning, some time to at least try to stow some cargo in the smuggler holds, and it was that hurt that made him say the next impulsive words.

"Aint' gonna be no next time," he assured her coldly, refusing to acknowledge her explanation. "You're off Serenity soon as I can get you close enough to the Core. Jayne'll fly you in, handle your baggage."

She stared at him in momentary incredulity, then shook her head with a roll of her eyes, disappointed in him. "I don't know why I bother," she said, laughing in self-deprecation. "You're impossible to talk to when you're like this." She turned to leave but hesitated a moment. "You should be clear to leave the planet by morning. If you want me off you can take me to Persephone and I'll get transport there. I don't need Jayne flying me anywhere," she said derisively, and with one final look she headed back for Serenity.

He turned to face her retreating back, his anger removing the holds they usually kept barred. "What is it you're runnin' from, Inara?" he challenged. "Ain't escaped my notice that by givin' up our cargo you kept your ownself outta the Core worlds as well. They took us - they'd have hauled you in too. What is it that you're hidin' from out here?"

She whirled to face him again, truly incredulous this time. " _Shen me!?_ You think I did this for my own gain?" she said, raising her voice as the tight rein she held on her anger began to slip again and she took a step forward menacingly. "I can't **work** on this world again thanks to this, Mal. If the Guild learns of my interference in an Alliance investigation I could face censure and disciplinary actions! And if Commander Huan ever finds reason to have you bound by law again, I **will** be hauled in with you! I've implicated myself in your crime! Do you even comprehend what that means?"

Mal studied her furious expression while his mind tried to work itself around the fact that she'd put herself at risk for Serenity, for the crew. He rejected the notion with a twist of his mouth, but it ate at him, kept coming around to the indisputable fact that the Companion who'd been so aloof and scathing to him at times had actually put herself between him and the perceived threat of the Alliance.

Haun was a back-stabbing _qiè zéi_ who was lining his pockets at the expense of his government; most like had himself set up to retire rich on his own moon. Mal didn’t expect a whiff of this raid had actually made the Cortex, nor would it. But the fact remained, had Inara not stepped in, Haun would have detained them, taken what he wanted, and Serenity’s crew would have mysteriously disappeared - thrown out an airlock like yesterday’s trash.

Anger leaving him with a rough sigh, he walked slowly toward her, stopping when he was within arm's length. “Not workin’ on this world ain’t no loss,” he offered gruffly, unable to formulate the words that would let her know he recognized her sacrifice. “Might be I do owe you a debt,” he finally pushed out “but you didn’t answer my question, either, Inara. Why is it every time talk turns to bein’ close to the Core you’re as skittish as I am ‘bout it?” he pressed softly.

Inara was not unaware of his change in demeanor, however his flippant dismissal of the planet and his hedging acknowledgement that she had actually done him a favour rankled her already frayed nerves, and his insistent pursuit of her reasons for leaving the Core, which she had made more than obvious were not open for discussion, only added to her aggravation.

“This is not about me, the Core, or running away from anything!” she snapped, harsher than she might have been under normal circumstances. “And this world *is* a loss, Mal! There are few enough worlds out here where I can take on respectable clients without taking any more off the list...” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “I don’t know why I expect you to understand,” she added bitterly. It wasn’t like he understood any other aspect of her job.

His fingers reached for hers as she spun away, lightly turning her back around to face him, her eyes glaring holes through him. Still holding her hand, he tugged her closer until only a few inches separated them, wondering for the thousandth time what she had in her past that kept her here - had brought her to Sereinity to begin with - choosing to stay with a rag-tag crew of misfits who barely kept their heads above water. Inara could have been anywhere; beauty and talent like hers was idolized by the rich in the Core – had been so, if the Cortex reports were to be believed. But that was in the past and now she was here, standing between him and the very government she’d supported.

Raising his eyes to catch hers, he forced the quiet question past his dry, tight throat. “Would it help if I said thank you?”

For a split second, Inara managed to hold on to her anger – and a part of her wanted to – but then she let out a huff of air and released the irritation, her shoulders relaxing as the tension left her. Avoiding his eyes, she shrugged one shoulder lightly, her lips twitching grudgingly.

“You’re welcome,” she pushed out, taking a step back from him, rolling her shoulders unconsciously to work out the stiffness her annoyance had filled her with.

Mal continued to hold her hand, awed by how small it felt in his own. He looked up to see her glancing at him from the corner of her eye and he looked away, suddenly interested in the horizon again.

“Since you saved the crew and all - might as well stay then,” he huffed out roughly. “n’less you **want** to go,” he clarified in his couldn’t-care-less voice.

“I—fine,” she said, nodding, her eyes fixing on their joined hands. “Good.” She was quiet for an uncomfortable moment, aware that he was still holding her hand. “Well.” She coughed, using the opportunity to pull her hand from his and cover her mouth. “I guess we should—“ she motioned with her head back in the direction of Serenity.

Mal quickly stowed his hands on his hips again, arms askew, a slight blush climbing his neck. “Yeah – got some work to do. Plans to be made,” he stumbled out, reaching up to absently rub a finger over his nose. “You…uh…best get on in, ain’t safe out here after dark,” he warned.

She nodded, turning to go, but then hesitated once more. "I am sorry," she said, meeting his eyes quickly before looking away. "That you had to lose the cargo, I mean. I know things will be difficult… If I can help…"

He turned back to the horizon as the last red sun dropped below the hills. “Cargo can be replaced, ‘Nara,” he sighed, his eyes far away. “We’ll scrape by,” he assured the darkness, ignoring her offer. “Always do.”

Inara watched him for a moment, marveling at the stubbornness he was capable of, wondering why she continued to try to reach him, not even sure what she would do if she ever managed to get through the rough exterior he kept himself hidden behind. She shook her head slightly and resumed her walk back to Serenity.

She never would understand that man.


End file.
